The Last of the Mohicans (1826), Ch. 8
“It is better to die for an idea that will live, than to live for an idea that will die.”
Steve Biko (1946–1977) anti-apartheid activist in South Africa
Quoted in Scott MacLeod, "South Africa: Extremes in Black and Whites" http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975037,00.html, Time, March 9, 1992, p. 38 <br class="br">Quoted in "The Mind of Black Africa" (1996) by Dickson A. Mungazi, p. 159
“Better to die than to live in fear.”
Christopher Paolini book Inheritance
Roran, on the cause of the Varden
Inheritance (2011)
“It is better to live rich, than to die rich.”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer
April 17, 1778
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol III
“Even a most evil man is better than the devil!”
Jan Hus (1369–1415) Czech linguist, religion writer, theologist, university educator and science writer
Source: A Companion to Jan Hus (2015), pp. 201-202; Jan Hus in Booklet against the Cook-priest in response to the rival priest who swore that Hus is worse than any devil.
“But better die than live mechanically a life that is a repetition of repetitions.”
D.H. Lawrence book Women in Love
Source: Women in Love (1920), Ch. 15
“It's better to die laughing than to live each moment in fear.”
Michael Crichton (1942–2008) American author, screenwriter, film producer
“Better to die on one's feet than to live on one's knees.”
Jean Paul Sartre (1905–1980) French existentialist philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and …
“Better to die on your feet than live on your knees.”
Aeschylus (-525–-456 BC) ancient Athenian playwright
This is usually attributed to Emiliano Zapata, but sometimes to Aeschylus, who is credited with expressing similar sentiments in Prometheus Bound: "For it would be better to die once and for all than to suffer pain for all one's life".
Misattributed
